The Role of Purposeful Work Goals in Promoting Meaning in Life and in Schoolwork During Adolescence

David Scott Yeager · Matthew J. Bundick

166 citations0/0 files storedJournal of Adolescent Research

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Education, Achievement, and Giftedness Career Development and Diversity Education and Work Dynamics

Abstract

What type of work goals provide adolescents with the sense that schoolwork is important and that their lives are meaningful? This mixed-methods study of a diverse sample of 6th-, 9th-, and 12th-grade adolescents ( N = 148) investigated the relationship between work goals, purpose, and meaning using a semistructured interview and a survey. Interview analyses showed that multiple motives were normative (68%), and that 30% of adolescents aspired to an occupation that would allow them to contribute to the world beyond themselves. Regression analyses found that adolescents with purposeful work goals also reported more meaning in life and in schoolwork than those who did not.

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References

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2015Minding and mending the gap: Social psychological interventions to reduce educational disparities 2017Purpose and Character Development in Early Adolescence 2016Student Motivation: Current Theories, Constructs, and Interventions Within an Expectancy-Value Framework 2011The benefits of reflecting on and discussing purpose in life in emerging adulthood 2010Classifying adolescents’ conceptions of purpose in life

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